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Salam, Dara (2019) 'Public Reason: A Stranger in Non-Liberal and Religious Societies?' Philosophy and Social Criticism, 45 (1). pp. 3-26.

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Abstract

The article contributes to the discussion of political reasoning in general, and public reason in particular, analysed from the vantage point of comparative political theory. It aims to bring out the complexity and diversity of actual political reasoning, and it serves as a corrective to some over-simplified discussions of public reason, by defenders and critics alike. I argue that the notion of public reason can be extended to and is operative in non-liberal and religious societies, with the acknowledgment that it needs to undergo a methodological metamorphosis in the process. This requires what I call multiple justificatory strategy, which allows the use of different justifications in order to respond to the plurality existing in society. However, there are certain qualifications in the use of multiple justifications. I argue that this leads to two important conclusions, (a) that the functioning of an inclusive notion of public reason requires the strategy of multiple justifications, and (b) it contests the inclusivists’ argument of the end or superfluity of public reason.

Item Type: Journal Article
Keywords: multiple justifications, Muslim majority societies, non-liberal and religious societies, public reason, Rawls
SOAS Departments & Centres: Regional Centres and Institutes > London Middle East Institute
Departments and Subunits > Department of Politics & International Studies
ISSN: 01914537
Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2018. This is the version of the article accepted for publication in Philosophy and Social Criticism published by SAGE https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453718814283
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453718814283
Date Deposited: 07 Nov 2018 13:08
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/29914

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